Analysis by WorldTribune Staff, September 23, 2025 Real World News
It was no surprise that Disney, which owns ABC, caved to leftist whining and announced it would resume Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show.
After more than 400 celebrities signed a letter sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) denouncing the suspension of Kimmel’s show over his false comments regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk, Disney said it would resume broadcasting the show on Tuesday.
But broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair, which combined own and operate more than 60 ABC affiliates that reach 22% of U.S. households, said they still plan to replace Kimmel’s show with news programming starting Tuesday night.
“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair said in a statement.
Sinclair called for Kimmel to apologize to the Kirk family and make a personal donation to the family and Kirk’s organization, Turning Point USA.
Mark Hyman, who retired last year as Sinclair’s vice president for corporate relations, noted in a Sept. 19 Substack.com analysis: “The political left is convinced President Donald Trump ordered ABC to cancel Kimmel. No, he did not. Figuratively speaking, Jimmy Kimmel had long ago signed his own death warrant.”
“Kimmel was an albatross around the necks of the ABC network and ABC affiliates,” Hyman wrote. “If ABC was seeking a pretext to dump him, then Kimmel delivered it to them with his insulting and moronic comments about Charlie Kirk. This wasn’t a gray area. Kimmel had to go out of his way to craft the demonstrative lie he told. It was intended to hurt. It was evil. Kimmel’s seemingly clueless behavior demonstrated a total lack of self-awareness at just how vulnerable he was. The urge to be a mean-spirited jerk was too powerful for him to ignore.”
Nexstar said it plans to continue carrying local news and other programming instead of Kimmel’s show. The company said it stands by its decision to preempt the show “pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
Kimmel said during his Sept. 15 show that “we hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” It had already been established at the time that Tyler Robinson, charged with Kirk’s murder, held extreme leftist views.
Human Events editor Jack Posobiec noted: “Jimmy Kimmel lied about the identity of a violent domestic terrorist and blamed Charlie’s murder on MAGA. Now his show is coming back and ABC didn’t even make him apologize. I don’t want to hear one word from the media about ‘misinformation’ ever again.
“Understand what just happened. Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t taken off the air out of respect for Charlie. Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air to give the entire media and the left distraction from the Charlie Kirk story. They tried to make Jimmy a victim, and blame it all on Trump
“There was more violence in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel not being on a TV show for a few days than in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s brutal assassination by a leftist. Remind people of this the next time someone tries to ‘both sides’ this issue. And understand the threat.”
Kimmel also mocked President Donald Trump’s grieving, comparing it to “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Nexstar owns ABC affiliates in markets including Nashville, New Orleans and Salt Lake City. Sinclair owns ABC affiliates in markets including Washington, D.C., Seattle and St. Louis.
Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger and Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, talked with Kimmel often over the past several days trying to end the impasse, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the discussions as saying.
“The resolution came quickly Monday after a meeting between Kimmel and Disney leadership, some of the people familiar with the matter said. Disney officials declined to comment on how Kimmel will address the controversy Tuesday or if there was an agreement on what he would say,” the Journal reported.
Kimmel’s return: Dead man walking? added by Editor Two on
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